Saturday, April 19, 2014

It's time to CELEBRATE This Week with Ruth Ayres from Discover. Play. Build. Every week Ruth invites us to share our celebrations from the week and link up at her blog. What a fun way to reflect on everything there is to be thankful for. There are so many things for me to celebrate this week, so here goes! 1. I survived spring break with my two crazy boys! I have found that as Drew and Nolan get older, it gets a little easier to take them places, play, and really enjoy each others company. I think I need a vacation from our vacation! I positively loved every second I got to spend with Drew and Nolan. 2. My Nolan is turning two tomorrow!! My baby boy has quite the comical and stubborn personality! This week, I was blessed to listen to him sing, "Let it Go" and the theme songs to "Caillou" and "Thomas the Train." 3. Dave, Drew, Nolan and I were finally able to spend the day together today! We trekked all the way down to Essex, CT to "A Day out with Thomas." We all had so much fun. I truly value this family time together. It is a reminder to me that we all need to slow down sometimes and just stop and enjoy each others company. 4. We get to spend the day tomorrow celebrating Nolan's birthday and Easter at my mom's house. I love our family gatherings! I hope that some day Dave and I will have a house big enough to have everyone over. The big family gatherings are a favorite memory of mine growing up and I want Drew and Nolan to have similar memories! 5. THERE IS LEFT OVER EASTER CANDY STASHED AWAY! I went a little crazy on the boys Easter Baskets and couldn't fit all the candy in the baskets. I hope everyone enjoys their Easter Sunday with family and friends! The count down to Summer vacation is on!

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

My husband and I have high athletic hopes for our oldest son, Drew. From the minute Drew was born, we envisioned him hitting grand slams on the baseball field, swimming laps in amazing speed, and shooting goal after goal into the hockey net. So imagine our surprise when we put Drew in the pool for his first swim lesson and he didn't love it. In fact, he clung to us and cried. Combine that with our over excitement about signing Drew up for T-ball and realizing he was bored out of his mind completing a drill of throwing a T-ball over and over again into a hula hoop. Drew could have cared less about throwing the ball the correct way- all he wanted to do was hit the ball off the tee and run like a wild man with his lovey, Bud, in hand! Then finally, the straw that broke the camel's back and brought us back to reality, was putting Drew on the ice for the first time for his very first skating lesson. What were we thinking, actually I do know what we were thinking- Drew was just going to take off! He was going to step onto the ice and just glide his way around the ice without any help! Reality hit us like a ton of bricks watching Drew on the ice. The poor kid couldn't even stand in his brand new hockey skates and adorable hockey helmet that he decorated with Star Wars decals. My gut told me to rescue him. Take Drew off the ice and not bring him back. I saw my husbands face as he watched Drew. It was pure heartbreak and I saw our dreams of the great hockey player slowly fade away. We heard other parents commenting on Drew's inability to stand and how he shouldn't be in hockey skates. It was just TOO HARD for him and he should be in figure skating skates with the toe pick. However, Drew proved us and those meddling parents, wrong! He stayed on that ice. He tried his hardest to learn to stand and get back up when he fell. And the first time he stood alone- Drew turned to us and gave us the thumbs up! He had the smile of a boy who just won a life time supply of Legos! At that point, I knew Drew was going to be ok and I could breath again.

Now flash forward to today. Drew has successfully graduated from Tot 1 into Tot 2. He is currently signed up for Tot 2 again for the spring session and boy, is he excited! While the other kids in his Tot 2 class may have graduated to Tot 3, we are perfectly happy with Drew repeat Tot 2. He hasn't got the gliding down to graduate to Tot 3 because he is too cautious and likes to take things at his own pace. I have no doubt in my mind Drew will get there and when he is ready, he will go on to Tot 3. What my husband and I have learned over the past few months is that, Drew doesn't doesn't have to meet our overzealous expectations to make us proud. For a 4 year old, Drew really knows his boundaries and his capabilities. And if Drew really did not like skating, he wouldn't talk about it constantly. He wouldn't request that we take him to the hockey store to get new skates because his hurt his feet and " mess him up" on the ice. Drew wouldn't politely tell the employee, "Excuse me. Can you help? My helmet hurts here and here. Can you fix it?" And when the very patient employee finished lacing and typing Drew's new skates, and said, "OK! Let's see what you can do!" I had a proud hockey mom moment. Drew didn't just walk around the store, he galloped, he jumped and he pranced around in his new hockey skates. I stood there and smiled as if Drew had won a gold medal. It was pure elation on my part! My heart swelled with pride and love as he said, " Momma watch me!" Such a change from a few months back.

These are the moments that make being a parent the best,most amazing thing in the world! My husband and I will be sure to make all of Drew's hopes and dreams come true- no matter what they are! Let's hope we live up to Drew's expectations!

“Making the decision to have a child - it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ”― Elizabeth Stone

“There is more to a boy than what his mother sees. There is more to a boy then what his father dreams. Inside every boy lies a heart that beats. And sometimes it screams, refusing to take defeat. And sometimes his father's dreams aren't big enough, and sometimes his mother's vision isn't long enough. And sometimes the boy has to dream his own dreams and break through the clouds with his own sunbeams.” ― Ben Behunin, Remembering Isaac: The Wise and Joyful Potter of Niederbipp